The present disclosure relates to a radiator support cover for a vehicle. For example, the radiator support cover includes a plurality of gutter members, wherein external air supply vents are formed between the gutter members. External air introduced from a front grill of the vehicle is supplied to the vehicle's engine through the external air supply vents on the radiator support cover.
As shown in FIG. 10, external air a is introduced into an automobile 101 through external air introduction ports 118a of a front grill 118 while the automobile 101 is traveling. External air a1, which forms a first flowpath branched off from the introduced external air a, is used for cooling a radiator 122 provided within an engine room 110. External air a2, which forms a second flowpath branched off from introduced external air a, is supplied to an engine (not shown) through an opening 132 of a radiator support cover 130 configured to cover an upper part of the radiator 122 (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-245744 (patent '744)). The opening 132 of the radiator support cover 130 includes a plurality of external air supply vents 136.
As shown in FIGS. 11 to 14, the radiator support cover 130 includes, for example, a plurality of external air supply vents 136 in the form of side-by-side slits in the opening 132. The external air supply vents 136 are formed and defined by the gutter members 140 which are elongated along the front-to-rear direction. Each of the gutter members 140 includes an upper gutter member 134 and a substantially U-shaped lower gutter member 138. A plurality of the gutter members 140 are arranged side-by-side, in alternating manner between upper gutter member 134 and lower gutter member 138, to cover the external air supply vents 136. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, an operator (not shown) is prevented from seeing the radiator 122 easily through each of the external air supply vents 136 when a front hood 120 for covering the engine room 110 is opened. Therefore, the aesthetic quality of the interior of the engine room 110 is enhanced when the front hood 120 is opened.
The radiator support cover according to the patent '744 includes a large number of the external air supply vents 136 where the width of the vents has been formed to be narrow in order to make the radiator 122 less visible to an operator through the external air supply vents 136. As a result, the number of gutter members 140 needed to achieve such effect was large. The gutter members 140 constitute passing resistance for external air a2 to be supplied to an engine. Therefore, due to the large number of the gutter members 140, the passing resistance increased to the extent that the amount of external air to be supplied to an engine was reduced.
Therefore, there has conventionally been a need of a radiator support cover for an vehicle, that while excellent in the aesthetic quality of an interior of an engine room when a front hood is opened, is at the same time able to supply a large amount of external air to a vehicle engine.